The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Bergenia which is grown as an ornamental plant for use in containers and in the landscape. The new cultivar is known botanically as Bergenia omeiensis will be hereinafter referred to by the denomination ‘Merry Bells’.
In 1999, the inventor collected and sowed seeds from an open-pollination of unpatented and unnamed selected maternal plants which exhibited tidy plant habits and contrasting colors in their flowers and stems. The resulting seedlings, approximately 200, were transplanted into containers in spring 2000 and maintained in a frost-protected greenhouse for evaluation during 2000, of which 118 plants were set aside for further observation during spring 2001.
In 2001, ‘Merry Bells’ was selected from a large population of unnamed and unreleased seedling parents for its unique combination of smaller size, smaller leaves which lie almost horizontal, and its delicate white and soft pink flowers which are carried on unusually short stems. Successive cycles of multiplication were conducted in the inventor's tissue culture laboratory in Pitt Meadows, British Columbia, Canada from 2001 until March 2016. The tissue culture process commenced with initiation of plant meristems. Thereafter, multiplication proceeded by basal division (excision and rooting of discrete basal shoots). The inventor removed and grew to flowering some plants from each cycle of multiplication and has determined that ‘Merry Bells’ is stable and reproduces true to type in each successive generation. ‘Merry Bells’ has not been sold or made publicly available more than one year prior to the filing date of the instant application.